Briefs

Climate Finance Shadow Report 2023

In 2009, high-income countries committed in the Copenhagen Accords to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance for low- and middle-income countries. Oxfam reported on the progress of this commitment in 2016, 2018 and 2020. This year’s report finds that high-income countries have not only failed to deliver on their commitment, but also – as in previous years – generous accounting practices have allowed them to overstate the level of support they have actually provided. Moreover, much of the finance has been provided as loans, which means that it risks increasing the debt burden of the countries it is supposed to help.

This paper calls on high-income countries to accelerate the mobilization and provision of climate finance, and to make up the shortfall from previous years, in a way that is equitable and just. High-income countries must provide finance that is transparent, with genuine accountability mechanisms, and that allows for far more local ownership and responsiveness to the needs of communities it is intended to reach. People on the frontlines of the climate crisis must have the funding they were promised for adaptation and mitigation, and to address the loss and damage they are already experiencing as a result of climate impacts.

Priorities for the Securities and Exchange Commission

The current SEC has signaled an ambitious agenda to fulfill its mission to protect corporate investors and ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the capital markets.

Why a wealth tax makes sense to tackle inequality

Given that wealth inequality in the US is more extreme and dangerous than income inequality, it is past time for a federal wealth tax.

New York State bill can help end the global debt crisis

The New York state legislature has a unique opportunity to pass legislation that would help combat poverty in debt-burdened countries, stabilize the economy, and benefit taxpayers.

Tax wealth, tackle inequality

Wealth inequality in the US is more extreme and dangerous than income inequality; and we need to change our approach, so we effectively tax wealth as well as income. We offer five reasons why a wealth tax makes sense.

False Economy: Financial wizardry won't pay the bill for a fair and sustainable future

2023 could be a turning point. A year when the world emerges from unprecedented crises, and governments deliver progressive reforms that build a brighter future for all, and for the planet.

But despite the dire economic situation facing the poorest countries today, and much political discussion of the trillions needed to tackle poverty, inequality and climate change, there is no indication that rich countries are willing to pay the true price of a fair and sustainable future.

In fact, there is a risk that rich-country Finance Ministers meeting in Washington this week will celebrate progress on reforms that deliver just 0.1% of the climate and social spending gap in low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs) between now and 2030. And that they will do so through financial wizardry that doesn’t cost them a cent.

This briefing spells out the dire reality and the true scale of the financing needed in low- and middle-income countries, the inadequacy of the solutions currently under discussion, and the action rich countries could be taking to raise the trillions of dollars that are truly needed.